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Unions picket against cattle sale

The ear and tag of a cow pokes out the side of trailer as it and many others wait in trailers to be hauled away from the Marion Correctional Institution and be auctioned off on Monday Morning. The State of Ohio is shutting down farms at five prisons including Marion Correctional Institution, sparking an outrage. Picketers lined the front and the farm section of the prison on Monday morning holding signs.(Photo: Matthew Hatcher The Marion Star)Buy Photo

MARION - The planned end of Marion Correctional Institution's farm will have an impact beyond the prison, according to union leader Christopher Mabe.

"There's a lot of people that deal with the farming processes here, not only the employees or the inmates but the local community," said Mabe, president of the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association (OCSEA). OCSEA was the main union picketing, but spokeswoman Sally Meckling said other unions were present.

MCI's cattle were removed Monday morning as union members picketed by the roadway The cattle will be sold at auction as part of the state's plan to close prison farms this year. An OCSEA press release said they will also be picketing outside five other farms with scheduled cattle sales at prison facilities in Chillicothe, Pickaway, Lebanon and London.

Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections (ODRC) spokeswoman JoEllen Smith said that the farms were being closed to bring resources back inside prisons to increase security and provide "more meaningful career opportunities."

"This endeavor is focused on ensuring the agency is more closely aligned with the core mission of reducing recidivism and enhancing the safety and security of our prisons," Smith said.

While the MCI farm coordinators were involved with removing the cattle, similar staff from other prisons were present and said they expected their positions would be cut without farms.

Darryl Hensley, a farm coordinator at the London Correctional Institution, said that he believed farm coordinators would have to take new jobs within ODRC or enter the private sector. Hensley and Meckling also said that the farms' end would take away valuable work experiences for inmates.

Farm labor is a sought-after inmate occupation and Hensley said it would allow inmates to re-enter society with up to $1,000 earned per year. Adam Conley, another farm coordinator, said recently released inmates need money to get a fresh start and without it they may seek "fast money" through illegal activity.

"We're not trying to teach these guys to be farmers; we're showing them what avenues they have," Conley said.

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Protesters wave signs protesting the shutting down of prison farms at passing traffic along Likens Road where the Marion Correctional Institution's farm is located. Marion Correctional Institution is having its cattle auctioned off and on Monday they where shipped out of Marion to other locations in Ohio for auction.(Photo: Matthew Hatcher The Marion Star)

While the state has begun the process of shuttering the farms, Meckling said that OCSEA is seeking an injunction to halt that process while an associated collective bargaining grievance can be heard. A hearing on the injunction is scheduled for May 27 in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.